Tymoshenko would beat Poroshenko in second round of presidential elections - poll

KYIV. Feb 22 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Batkivschyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko is the leader of the presidential rating, as she would get support from 18.7% of those who would take part in presidential elections if they were held in the near future, sociologists say.

According to the results of a survey conducted by the Rating Sociological Group and presented at the Interfax-Ukraine news agency on Thursday, 15.6% of respondents are ready to support incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and 11.7% are ready to vote for co-chairman of the Opposition Bloc faction in parliament Yuriy Boiko.

In the first round of the presidential elections, Civil Position Party leader Anatoliy Hrytsenko would get support from 9.7% of those who intend to take part in them, Radical Party leader Oleh Liashko - 8.7%, For Life Party leader Vadym Rabinovych - 8.3%, Lviv Mayor and Samopomich Association leader Andriy Sadovy - 6.4%, Svoboda Party leader Oleh Tiahnybok - 3.9and %, People's Front Party leader and former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk – 1.7%. Some 15.3% of respondents are ready to vote for other candidates.

Sociologists note that Tymoshenko holds the lead in virtually all regions in the central and western part of the country. At the same time, she is one of the three leaders in almost all regions. Poroshenko has strong positions in some western regions and in the city of Kyiv, and Boiko in most southern and eastern regions.

At the same time, sociologists say, if Tymoshenko and Poroshenko reached the second round of presidential elections, 30% of those who declared their participation in the main elections are ready to vote for the Batkivschyna Party leader, and 23% are ready to support the head of state. At the same time, 28% would refuse to participate in the second round of voting in such conditions, with 19% more being undecided.

The survey was conducted from December 12 to December 28, 2017. A total of 30,000 respondents aged over 18 were interviewed face-to-face. The poll's margin of error does not exceed 0.6%.